great resource for AP thematic unit planning:
AP LANG
Week of April 8, 2013

SP1 SWBAT to interpret a text (story) and demonstrate understanding by telling their own story that mirrors the original and maintains grammatical structures found in the text.

SP2 SWBAT properly use vocabulary words and phrases that coincide with going shopping, as well as identify with the cultural aspects of shopping in the Spanish-speaking world. Students will re-enact a scene in a store for 2 minutes.

SP3 SWBAT demonstrate the ability to ask and answer questions pertaining to planning a trip (in a travel agency), and then gathering flight information in the airport. Students will conduct 2 dialogues that contain the key vocabulary phrases that are need for the two scenarios.

Target Language average for the week: 75% in Spanish 1, 50% in Spanish 2, 40% in Spanish 3. I find that when there is a big project (fashion show/children's storybook) going on, the logistics of the projects tend to be discussed in English -- I supposed this is mainly because I don't want any students claiming they did not understand the directions!

Student-Centered Learning Spanish 2 and 3 have been working on an authentic assessment: storybook for SP3, and Fashion show for SP2. Spanish 1 students do many one-on-one speaking activities that take only 2-3 minutes to complete.

Positive class environment in one of my SP2 classes I donned a pair of purple sweatpants for their "fashion show" This lightened up the early morning slumberish mood!
In my SP3 class I lowered the filter by allowing more time for students to make their children's storybooks really good. I believe that by providing more time, they did not feel "rushed". They could concentrate on developing their stories and producing their sentence structures without relying on an on-line translator.
My SP1 classes are not going so well.... There is tension in the air between some students and me. This time of year is tough - the students that realize they probably won't pass for the year start to "give up" and negative behavior sometimes envelopes the whole class.

I'm going to check this lesson plan on immigration real soon - looks very interesting

http://martinabex.com/category/activities-with-authentic-resources/